New Plan Aims Reduce Air Pollution From LA, Long Beach Ports
by Andrew Posner, Rhode Island, USA on 05. 9.08
As part of a $500 million plan to clean up the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles--which are significant sources of air pollution in the Los Angeles basin--half of the 16,000 diesel trucks that currently operate at the ports will be replaced with liquefied natural gas (LNG) models. With diesel at over $4 a gallon, many truckers have already been slowing down to save fuel, but no amount of slowing down can reduce the emission of conventional pollutants from the oldest trucks, which is the biggest problem currently facing the ports. Trucking companies, therefore, have finally agreed with the plan, and this October will begin replacing their oldest, most inefficient and dirtiest trucks. The goal is that by 2012 "only trucks meeting the EPA's 2007 clean air standards will be allowed in the ports." (It's not clear why trucks that don't meet those standards are currently allowed in the port, although it's probably a question of cost, as well as the fact that a significant potion of America's products enter through these two ports).
The Clean Air Action Plan will also require that ships turn off on-board systems while they are at the docks. Finally, the target for overall emissions reductions from the port is 45%, which includes an 80% reduction in truck emissions.
Via: ::GreenBiz.com
See Also: ::Take Your Natural-Gas Vehicle To Utah!, ::Norwegian LNG Could Satisfy 10% of US East Coast Natural Gas Demand, ::Port Cities at Risk of Climate Change-Induced Coastal Flooding, ::Real Treehuggers Support Adding LNG Terminals, and ::EPA Petitioned to Limit CO2 Emissions from Ships
(It's not clear why trucks that don't meet those standards are currently allowed in the port,...
The standards rose dramatically for big rigs in 2007. But it was only for new-manufactured trucks. Just as with normal cars, anything built before the increased standards is "grandfathered" as ok so long as it met the emissions standard for when it was built. The big-rig engine manufacturers had a hard time meeting the new increased limits, the solutions they used were mainly untested and new-engine trucks were more expensive. There was actually a run on 2006-built trucks during that year because few large companies had any exposure to the new engines and didn't know whether they would even work properly, so new were the engine-makers' solutions to this raised EPA limit. Mostly it was the forward-looking companies who tested a few of them early to see how to implement these new engines, what changes needed to be made regarding maintenance, and training of maintenance people.
It is unfair to someone who bought a perfectly-legal truck only 3 or 4 years ago to bar them from the port, and this is the answer to your question about why non-2007 compliant trucks can enter. However, in 2012 there will have been 5 years since the new models were mandated. Most trucking companies only get 3-4 years' service out of their trucks before they're sold off and replaced so those big companies won't be complaining. However, any small-time operation which buys used trucks and keeps them running (independent truckers and very small companies, mainly) might have good reason to complain about the new policy.